Sleep Flashcards
What switch between sleep and wake stable states?
Due to the build-up of sleep pressure during wakefullness and the dissipation of sleep pressure during sleep
What is the sleep-wake cycle entrained to?
To the circadian cycle
When do you fall asleep?
When the sleep pressure is great
When do you wake up?
When the dissipation is sufficient
What does the switch in sleep-wake state occurs from due to?
Due to neurons that have antagonistic functions:
1) Wake promoting neurons
2) Sleep promoting neurons
What are wake promoting neurons activated by?
What do they promote?
By dissipating sleep pressure
Promote transition into wakefullness when a threshold of activation is reached
What are sleep promoting neurons activated by?
What do they promote?
By increasing sleep pressure
Promote transition into sleep when reach a certain threshold
Describe the sleep-wake transition
Rapid
Bistable
What controls the sleep-wake transition
Controlled by a network of sleep and wake neurons
Where are wake promoting neurons found in the hypothalamus?
Lateral hypothalamus
Tubomammillary nucleus
What neurons are in the lateral hypothalamus?
Neurons that synthesise and secrete OREXIN (HYPOCRETIN)
What neurons are in the tubomammillary nucleus?
Neurons that synthesise and secrete HISTIDINE
What is narcolepsy?
A chronic SLEEP DISORDER that causes:
- Drowsiness
- Excessive day-time sleepiness
- Frequent day time napping
What can narcolepsy occur with?
- Cataplexy
- Sleep paralysis
Who does narcolepsy occur in?
Young adults/adolescents
What happens to neurons in narcolepsy?
85-90% reduction in Hypocretin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus (LH)
What leads to narcolepsy?
1) Mutations in HYPOCRETIN
2) LESION or ATTACK to the TMN/lack of HISTIDINE
What does ISH of a hypocretin brain show in comparison to a normal brain?
No hypocretin in a narcoleptic brain
What is important to know about hypocretin?
The genetic programme that establishes the neuronal hypocretin+ lineage and maintains fully functional hypocretin expression
What transcription factor specifies hypocretin+ neurons?
How was this discovered?
Lhx9
Discovered by screens of zebrafish looking for factors that can specify Hct neurons:
1) Firstly seeing if could see normal Hct+ neurons - using ISH with antisense probe - saw at 24hpf and 120hpf
2) Then, made a transgenic reporter line using: RPF under the hct promoter
3) Sort RFP+ cells from dissociated cells from isolated brain using FACS
4) Microarray to identify the transcripts enriched in the Hcrt neurons